Can I get my record cleared?
In 2014, I was a student at a party and was busted with 1g of dagga(it was smaller than the tip of my pinky finger). I was taken into the police station, the took my finger prints, shook me up a little bit and let me go. In 2016 it was brought under my attention that I have a police record for possession of illegal substance. I would like to know if it is possible to get my name cleared? As I am working in the financial sector and not all companies would accept my application.
Category: Criminal Law, Arrest
Region: South Africa, North-West
1 Answer
Hello
You only get a criminal record if a court finds you guilty of an offense or if you pay an admission of guilt fine. Probably one or the other happened to you. For minor offenses like this , you can apply through the police station to the Ministry of Justice for your record to be expunged. But that can happen after 10 years. However with the recent sea change in the attitude of the law towards cannabis you should try the option of getting a lawyer to bring an application to the High Court for that record to be expunged if the Ministry of Justice refuses.